How do we do discipleship online?
Most churches think of themselves as inviting people (from their local community) to be disciples of Jesus. For example, the United Methodist Church’s mission is “to make disciples for the transformation of the world.” We may use slightly different words, or add in an additional caveat or two, but basically…we exist to disciple people in the way of Jesus.
So…how do we do that online? How does the internet help us do that better?
There are two basic principles here.
You need to know who you are trying to communicate with.
You need to know how you can help that person.
Sure, that’s just basic communication. Pastors do it every Sunday. Toothpaste companies do it every day. But how do we do it for a local church, communicating with their community?
A structured way to think about that is with “discipleship pathways.”
A discipleship pathway is a system many churches have to organize how any given person might be disciplined inside their church’s ministries. Some think of these systems as very rigid, while other churches appreciate the clarity they provide. Certainly, in the context of this email, the clarity they give is helpful.
For a discipleship pathway, you simply ask:
“Who is in my congregation or my community?”
“Where are they as disciples?”
“How might they take a next step toward deeper discipleship?”
Then write that down. You want a system that broadly helps people in every step of the faith journey.
(Side note: one of the advantages of a discipleship plan is that it helps clarify who your church can help, and who your church is not really helping very much at all)
For example, you might create 6 categories:
Uninterested in religion
Spiritually interested, but unconnected
Churchgoer, but not changing
Pursuing Transformation (with support)
Taking responsibility for self-growth
Guiding the growth of others
Certainly, this glosses over some nuance, but we also learn something in the simplicity. Consider one or two members of your church. Which category are they in? How can your church help them grow to the next step?
There is a lot to be said about Discipleship pathways, and different churches might construct them differently. However, most churches that are very effective at serving their neighbors have a Discipleship Pathway (or something similar) in mind. They are an incredibly valuable tool, and they help cut through the noise of all that is in church programming and personal preferences.
Hey, that’s a lot for this email. Thinking through Discipleship structures is a lot to wrap your head around. Next week, though, I’ll share some thoughts on how to use the internet to help people online move from one discipleship pathway to the next.
Until then, I really love this stuff! To be honest, I think this is some of the stuff that helps our clients make the most of their tech stuff and online ministry. If you would like to chat a bit about what discipleship pathways your church already has (and you certainly have some implicitly), then let’s schedule a zoom meeting!
